The First Sinner
by Polarissruler
Summary: Soul Cartel fic The world has just been created. Humans live amongst Eden until the snake slithers in and causes the original sin. Banished from Eden, Adam and Eve have two children, Cain and Abel, and hope the future will be kind to them. But the snake Mastema has already predicted another downfall. WARNING FOR CHARACTER DEATH. You know who dies.


**AN: **Ladies and gentelman, this is my first Soul Cartel fic and probably the first Soul Cartel fic on this site. It is horrible that it does not get the love it deserves, at it should have its own category at least. Anyway, for those, who don't know, Soul Cartel is an unique take on the Christian legends and here is one of the most popular biblical stories, adapted for its verse. Tell me, if you have enjoyed it!

* * *

Soft rain droplets fell on the human. He looked at the gates in front of him, trying to touch through them, to feel at least a bit of the essence of Eden; of that world, where existed no things like coldness, pain, and hunger; that world, which his parents lost by trusting the snake. The gold light was close, so close. One step more, just one step – he could smell the exotic flowers, he could hear the birds singing… Slowly walking towards the dream, Abel stopped thinking about the present. There were the heavens, behind gates, left open and unguarded. One step…

The second Abel could see the trees, the second he could step in the grass, the second he could be safe from the cold rain… The gates shut under his nose, taking all this golden light from him. The time wasn't today. Why had the Lord forced them to suffer like that? No, He always had a plan! The suffering was a part of His providence!

Abel did not cry, having suffered through this cruel test over and over. He turned back towards the cave, where his family hid from the nature. One day, the gates of Eden were going to open for him. One day, he was going to be worthy and his family would not have to suffer anymore. They would be back behind the safe gates, free from any struggles or pain. The Lord was going to welcome them once again, as soon as they purified themselves of their sin.

"Did it work this time?" Every week, on the day Lord chose for rest, Abel would walk to Heaven and pray to be finally redeemed enough to be let back in. Every week, as he went home, he met the same angel at the same place. Every week, the angel asked the same question.

"No, your Holiness, but I pray the next time I will enter. Today I accidentally let some doubt of the Lord enter my mind and I could not pass. I thank you forever, for telling me about the chance of redemption."

The wind blew harder, throwing rain in Abel's face. "I have to go now, Your Holiness, for the storm is getting too strong…"

The angel spread his wings over the boy, keeping him safe. "Fear not, Abel, for I will protect you from the rain. If you go home now, you will get wet. Stay with me, until the storm ends."

This angel was much different from all others. The white-winged always looked at his struggles from aside, speaking amongst themselves: "Look at that human, banished from heaven forever, for his parents' unforgivable sin. Look at his suffering!"

"What are you thinking, Abel?" The angel looked at the boy's expression curiously, trying to understand him better.

"Nothing of importance, Your Holiness. I simply am thankful the Lord is willing to give us a second chance with His merciful offer of redemption. But, if I can ask, why has he not spoken with the other angels about that?"

The angel touched the boy's head softly. "You have nothing to worry about, young Abel. Amongst the angels, there are traitors, willing to stop your family from entering heaven again." He stepped closer and closer to Abel, looking straight at his eyes. "They follow another, fallen one. It is a sad truth for all – they can willingly defy the Lord." A small tear formed in the angel's pitch-black eyes.

They spoke for more time, but the storm only got stronger and stronger.

"Abel," said the merciful angel, "I do not wish to make you stay here in the cold. Yet since you cannot go alone to your family, I shall take you. Take my hand and do not release it until we arrive."

Abel did as he was ordered and soon, the angel spread his wings, this time to fly. The next moment, the boy was above the ground. The world moved underneath his feet, the raindrops passed around them, but not for a second they hit him. The first few times Abel had flown with the angel, he was afraid; he hanged on his hand so deep that it left a mark. But the angel assured him it was nothing and calmed him down. Every time, the angel looked at him with his warm smile and soon, week after week, Abel's fear disappeared.

Abel felt his feet touching the ground again. The cave, where his family lived was just a few steps away. Abel turned to thank the black-winged angel, but he has flown away – just like always.

"Mother, father, brother, I have come back. I went to Eden, but it did not let me in today. Worry not. One day I promised to give you the garden again. The angel of Lord took me here, so I'm not wet."

Adam and Eve had fallen asleep. Only, Cain, soaked to the bone from working under the rain, turned to face his brother. He simply got closer to the weaning fire, and frowned, without saying anything.

Cain woke up in the stinky cave. The burning rays of the sun blinded him for the first few seconds. Moving slowly, he walked past the ashes – all that remained from the fires they lit – and his family. He had gotten used to waking up before them, going to work and avoiding them day after day.

As he stepped in the soft mud, he looked at the damages the rain had done. Yesterday it was the day of God, yet Cain had to care that Abel's pests would not destroy his fields while the shepherd would go to Eden, fueled by false hopes. It also meant he would not have to join his parents as they worshiped God.

Eden – Cain's most hated thing in the world. Every night, just after he fell asleep, his dreams would be filled with hopes: strange flowers and warm rain. He would work for his plants without getting tired, he would rest when he wanted, he would fell no hunger, heat, coldness or pain; only pleasure remained with him in the nights.

Every morning, as the cruel sunrise woke him up, Cain would try his best to forget those impossible dreams – quite hard, when the shining walls of Eden spread light around the whole world, taunting him with their mighty glory.

Even then, he could endure the life; he could endure worshipping God, he could endure giving him sacrifices, he could endure those impossible hopes. But his brother's naivete – climbing the hills of Heaven on every day, set for rest, only to get rejected by the same God that banished them and now lied one day would let them back in – hurt Cain more than anything. How foolish was he?

God would never take back his decision; the Fall of his parents tainted every human with the Original Sin. There was no chance those angels, always watching from apart with their smug smiles, would ever accept a sinner amongst them.

"Are you still dreaming?" A soft voice woke Cain from his thoughts. "How can your thoughts still linger on something you know as impossible to achieve?" Cain realized he had been looking at Eden the whole time. He turned to Mastema – only the Devil had such a nice voice.

"You dream of overturning God," replied Cain.

"Don't we share the same dream, then?" The Devil simply shrugged Cain's answer off – for him, it did not seem impossible at all. Cain wished he could be like him – powerful enough to believe he could overcome the Creator.

"I told you – I don't hate God. I'm not loving Him, either," Cain spoke with quiet voice – a habit he had gotten from hanging around his family, "and how can one fight him?"

Mastema smiled – whenever he smiled in that way, Cain felt the urge to run far away and repent. He felt like a simple tool, used in some grander plan – not just someone, with whom the Snake himself spoke out of simple curiosity.

"Who do you hate, then? Me – for making your parents fall? You should not waste your time with such trivial things – sooner or later they would have tried the tree of knowledge and then the god would have banished them anyway. He is the reason you have to suffer on Earth, living in Eden only in your dreams."

Something dark and sticky arose in Cain's chest. He leaned next to a tree, too sick to move. The Devil's words were a poison – but such a sweet poison. It was God's fault! All of it: all the suffering, all the pain, all the hopeless dreams! Cain turned to Eden's gates, more blinding than the dangerous sun. That place should just burn along with God and all his followers!

"Shouldn't you add your family to the list? They still follow him, even after he threw them out of Eden. Your brother still chases fake hopes, given to him by a servant of God. They deserve to burn just like the angels."

Cain tried to breathe, fighting the hate devouring his heart. He barely could swim through the dark, sticky sea of the devil's poison. "No! I… I don't hate them. I… I…," he coughed, unable to speak. "You… You are a lair."

Mastema helped Cain stand up, supporting his shaking body. "Yet you still speak with me. You could have avoided me; you could stop responding to me any day. Why do we keep meeting, if you don't believe I am speaking only the truth?"

By now, Cain could barely breathe in the pitch-black sea. He needed a way to direct his hate, a way he could forget it for a few moments.

"Why forget it?" spoke Mastema as he did something strange with his hand. Cain had long given up trying to understand how the devil could read his thoughts. "Relish it. Enjoy it. Let yourself sink in – it is much easier."

A sheep came, lost from Abel's herd. Could the foolish shepherd do nothing properly? Cain tried to tell him to watch over his animals, but his brother used the same useless excuse: "I am sorry, brother, yet I was speaking with Lord's Angel and I did not notice."

"It will eat your vegetables. Your brother's mistake will ruin all the care you have put in those plants. Let the hate possess you for a moment – just this once. Let it and tell me if it is evil."

Mastema's voice came from beyond the darkness, sweet and deadly as ever. Cain stopped fighting – how could he fight the endless sea of anger? Sinking to the bottom, piece by piece, he lost himself. Adam, Eve, Abel, God: they were at fault! They destroyed his life; they took Eden from him and they still tormented him with hope – the worst of all divine cruelties!

Cain did not even notice Mastema putting a rock in his hand. Blind with rage, he jumped and hit the beast straight in the head. Red blood, just like a sacrifice, flowed out of the wound, covering the field.

The darkness died, leaving only a painful, more destructive feeling of regret. "What have I done?" asked Cain, hoping to get no answer. "Stand up! Stand up!"

"How can your thoughts still linger on something you know as impossible to achieve?" Mastema repeated his question, this time with more pleasure in his voice. "You killed it. All is over for the animal – it shall not breathe anymore, it shall not eat anymore, it shall not live anymore. If you don't want your family to get angry, we should bury it in secret."

"Why…" spoke through tears Cain, "Why are you helping me?"

"I caused this problem," spoke Mastema with a voice so caring that Cain could not notice the oblivious lie, "so I should help take care of it."

Mastema watched the two brothers from a distance. The trap they had fallen in was so cruel yet so well-planned that even the god had missed it. Either that, or he knew but did not care enough to stop it – the end result would be the same. Corrupting Cain was the easy part: the boy tried to run from the darkness, yet only found himself more and more lost. He could barely stomach his first murder – if only he knew what Mastema had prepared…

But he was not the real prize – no, he was a goalpost. Abel – the god's favored – that was Mastema's masterpiece. No matter how much the angels tried to keep them apart, the poor lamb walked to the Big Bad Wolf. Abel's faith was true and unclouded; watching all that faith crumble and be replaced by empty, aimless, passionate hate would be so interesting.

Faith was such a fickle thing. So powerful that almost nothing could break it, yet so brittle that only words could break it. Why would an omnipotent being need faith? Was it a simple desire and nothing more? And what would happen once the faith disappeared forever? Mastema needed those answers – he was the side of Lucifer that represented knowledge. He needed to be the smartest, he needed to know everything!

Mastema summoned the darkness, smiling like a boy, who was told he could play with his toys only for one time more today. That last game was going to be memorable, something of a completely new level.

"Brother, have you seen one of my lambs? I have been looking everywhere. I prayed to the Lord for guidance, yet I still have to find it. Will you help me?" Abel asked, oblivious to the pain Cain was in. It was natural that he could not see it – after all, they seldom met as a result of Mastema's manipulations.

The game had begun with the first sentence. Mastema could see the fear in Cain's eyes, passing into a red rage and black blaming. The regret possessed him, turning the predictable toy into even more predictable puppet. His hand – still bloody from the killing, so Cain hid it behind his back – was shaking.

"The sheep are your job," said Cain. His weak voice was still full of regrets and even more hate. At whom? Himself for giving in to the anger, Mastema for manipulating him, Abel for letting the animal run away? All of these were possibilities and Mastema wondered which one would be the best.

Holding the strings of his puppets, Mastema walked past them, hidden by his power over the darkness. Even Uriel could not dispel the shadows he was hiding in. Standing next to Abel, he whispered in his ear, speaking like the thoughts that would pass through the shepherd's mind.

"Anger will poison Cain's heart and displease the Lord."

Abel's face looked shocked for one short moment. "Brother, you should not be so bitter! You may anger the Lord with your darkness, and that will stop you from entering Eden." Abel tried to help Cain calm down – but it was impossible. Returning to Eden was Cain's sore spot: it would anger him more.

True to Mastema's prediction, Cain's eyes showed only the dark void of rage.

"Your brother doesn't care about you at all – he only wants Eden." Mastema quickly abused that rage, ready to push the brothers even further apart. If Cain knew his brother, he would realize how big Mastema's lie was – but Mastema had made that impossible.

"Eden this, Eden that! Why do you care so much about your Eden?" Cain was shouting, "You will never return there! Take your head away from the clouds and look around us! If God cares, why he threw us away in the first place?"

Abel's face went pale from the shock. Nobody before had spoken about the god to him in such a manner. Mastema could see the doubt swirling in his head, poisoning his fate. The devil licked his lips – once the critical point passed, the fallout would be more than delicious.

"Don't be bitter, brother! Such temptations come form the fallen angels!" Abel sounded desperate – he needed to assure himself more than his brother. The god was on his side, right? How long would it take him to see the harsh reality? Few minutes? Seconds?

"Then why God has not helped us once! Why God has left us for the sin of our parents! God is not letting us back in Eden, so stop smiling, as if everything will be all right!" Cain's mask had broken into a million pieces. All the hate he had been trying to hold back came with full force, crushing him under the black, thick waves.

"Brother, don't hate the Lord! He is merciful and caring! Do you hate me for trying to reach Eden? Do you hate me for having hope? If you wish, I shall stop for you, brother!" Tears filled Abel's eyes, but Cain had already sunk to the bottom of the hate. His brother no longer meant anything for him. Halfway there – one was already corrupted. It was time to use that short moment of complete despair to complete advantage.

"I hate you! I hate your smiles more than anything! I hate your blind faith! Without you, I could spend my pitiful, limited life with no hopes or dreams! But you had to promise me the impossible and repeat it every single day! I wish you were never born!"

Oh, how nice. Even without forcing him, Cain had started speaking. Words, sharper than a beast's fangs, dug in Abel's heart. The earth under Abel swallowed his tears; the boy was crying so much that he could not breathe.

"B… Brother! I forgive you for hating me! But please, don't let this hate poison your mind! Don't hate the Lord and beg him to forgive you for your past harsh words and sinful thoughts!"

Yet Mastema had already sneaked to whisper in Cain's ear, twisting all the meaning. "Did you hear your brother? He loves God more so much that he does not care about you at all – otherwise he wouldn't have forgiven you so fast."

Cain felt a stone in his bloody hand. He jumped at his brother, driven by primal rage. Abel rose arm to protect himself, but it too late, too weak. The boy fell on the ground, the Earth gulping his blood. The first sacrifice in the name of Mastema.

Shaking, Cain fell on the ground next to him. "N… No! No! Brother, brother, wake up! I… No! It… Where did it come from? I didn't want to kill you!"

"Oh, but you wanted." Mastema's poisonous voice pierced the dark sea of hate and regret. "You don't have that excuse – you knew exactly what would happen. You knew and still hit him with the stone. I should thank you for making the first sacrifice in my name – I am not going to waste it."

Mastema walked away from the lonely boy. He did not need that pawn anymore; no, it was time for the real prize. As the hot wind blew behind him, the devil made a note to check the results of the god's wrath. Who would be the executor? Gabriel killing a man – no, he could never imagine her in such position. Michael? No, the god would never use his favorite tool for such a mundane task like punishing a single sinner. That left either the mad artist or… Mastema smirked – he could get three points in a single day.

"Help… Help me! This is your fault!" The cries of help disappeared as Mastema entered the Underworld. He did not lie – Abel's soul was still too precious to waste by letting it rise to heaven. No, the devil was going to make sure Abel would enter hell on his own will.

Abel's soul lingered in an empty limbo. Neither Heaven would accept someone bound with the original sin, nor Hell would take a human. Purgatory did not exist as anything more than a future, a possible event in God's prospects. His eyes, shut tightly, feared the emptiness around them.

Abel was falling. How long? Ages passed around him, yet time had frozen still. Suddenly, the mad rush of air stopped. Ground! Abel opened his eyes, but a plain, empty desert replaced the green plains he loved so much. It was dark – only some lights on the edge of the horizon danced weakly. A dream? Abel tried to rub his eyes and wake himself, but his hand passed through his face – like light passed through tree leaves.

"What… What happened?" The cold loneliness hurt Abel. He tried to calm himself down, but could not. Why was he alone? Where were his parents, his brother, the angel? N-no, he could not be alone!

"Hello, little lost soul."

Abel turned into the direction of the voice. From the hellish lights on the horizon came the angel. Abel ran towards him, praying for help.

"Why are you doing so?" spoke the angel. His voice froze the boy in his tracks. Gone was the caring, wise man and in his place stood a pillar of darkness, taking all the light of the flames. "Haven't you understood god has forsaken you? Oh, right. You are too foolish to realize. After all, that's why I chose you as my pawn." Each word hurt Abel more and more.

"W-What are you speaking Your Holiness? You… You are an angel, but you scare me so much!" Abel fought the desire to cry. The angel would never hurt him, the angel had to be good, the angel had to be nice!

"And you should be scared," said the angel as he walked to the shaking, weak boy on the ground, "for I am no angel. I'm Mastema." The voice hurt more than the dry wind, bringing Abel to tears. "Are humans so dense? And I thought one of you could be a worthy challenge. You brother killed you only after a few small pushes in the total direction. And you swallowed every word I said, no matter how oblivious were the lies."

"Who are you? Who can you be but an angel? Only they have powers like yours! Only they and…" Abel finally realized. The fallen one smiled – a horrifying smirk, like a wolf ready to jump. Shivering, Abel tried to run. What was the fallen one going to do?

"Don't worry – there should be nothing worse than what your brother has done." The angel spoke coldly as if he were a scientist that discussed his theory. If something worse existed – he would have used it, too.

"My brother? Cain! Where is he?" Abel's voice was full of worry and so quiet that Mastema could barely hear him through the desert wind.

"He? You still care about him, after he sent you here. I should explain more carefully. You are doomed. You will never return to your parents, you will never see Eden, you will never be free. Your soul will wander through the endless plains until I decide to dispel them and destroy you forever."

Abel was shaking. "N-no! The Lord will protect us!"

"Think about it." Mastema barely held his cheer back. So close, so close! "Your god knows everything and can do everything. Yet he did not stop me. What is the reason? He does not care about you at all. For him, you are but a speck of dust."

"You are lying," Abel spoke with empty voice. All passion from a second ago had given up. The Lord would protect them – he had to protect them! He created a whole world for the humans; could he betray them without remorse? Even in the face of the evidence, Abel tried to fight.

"I was caught red-handed. Of course, he may care about you. Do you see the light on the horizon? It is Eden. If you walk forever without stopping, you should reach it. Then you may have proven yourself to that god. But if he still does not let you in, then you are doomed to wander these lands alone. Or," Mastema smirked even more as he spoke, the end goal so close, "you can come with me. You can give up on the god, who had given up on you. It is not exactly Eden, but it is guaranteed. What do you say?"

Sweet poison dripped in Abel's mind. God had abandoned them. God let that happen. God could have stopped Mastema, yet chose not to. Why? If he had absolute power, why not use it?

The fallen one offered his hand. Shaking, Abel took it.

Uriel blinked slowly. Even after the Lord's warning, he did not expect such a gruesome event. Red, shiny blood covered the crying earth. The murderer was holding the corpse and weeping for his victim.

"Brother!" His voice – ghastly and weak – hurt Uriel. There was so much sadness, so much bitter hate. Even a stone would break down from such a pitiful cry.

"Son of Adam," Uriel closed his eyes, as he recited the verdict, "what have you done to your brother?"

The boy – shaking more wildly than a leaf during a storm – did not answer. More tears fell on the ground.

"What," Uriel repeated his question – this time his voice quivered for a moment, "have you done to your brother?"

"It…" A whisper, quieter than a mouse. The bloodied human tried to speak. "It shouldn't have ended like that! I… I didn't want to kill him!"

The Lord's orders should never be doubted. Every angel existed for that thought – even if they seemed unjust, God always knew everything. He had a reason. Everything was going to fit in its perfect place. Defying the orders meant chaos. Chaos meant destruction.

Uriel opened his eyes, ready to punish the sinner. Was that another test of loyalty? Did the Lord believe Uriel could also fall like the star and burn in the Hell?

'Find Cain, son of Adam, the first sinner of the new generation and punish him. Even if he shows remorse or conscience, it shall be too late to save his soul. He shall suffer an endless torment, along with the other fallen.'

The Lord had His reason. Light, brighter than the sun that tormented Cain day after day, blinded him. Cain turned around and saw the angel above his head.

"I will follow my brother," Cain spoke so coldly that even Uriel's fiery soul froze. There was no fear in his voice. "God never cared about us. Let Him do as He wills."

"You shall never meet the brother, whose life you took." Usually polite and caring, this time Uriel projected cold emptiness. His eyes reflected no light – as if he did not exist, merely an extension of another's will. "You shall wander through life. You shall age and wither until your skin becomes parchment and your bones become limestone. You shall never enter Heaven or Hell, but see their borders as an impossible goal." A cursed mark appeared on Cain's forehead – the Lord had exiled him from his world. There was no chance of salvation for his soul. "Go," spoke Uriel, barely holding his façade, "and never come back amongst the living, you, cursed, alive corpse."

Cain ran away, shaking with fear.

Mastema had come from behind at some point. He had not spoken for a few minutes, watching the events and taking mental notes.

"You can't stand that, am I right?" The voice spoke like it believed it could never be wrong; the question clearly rhetorical.

Uriel spread his huge wings, ready to fly away. He needed to get away from the snake, to hide alone for a while. "I am the angel of light. You cannot trick me, serpent."

"Yet you were the one, who made our deal. Let me ask you: God is omniscient and omnipotent. He knew about our bet and approved it – then it is his fault for letting Abel die. But that would make no interesting stories for the future generations…" Mastema walked closer and closer, speaking like a prophet of doom with a smile, befitting only fallen angels.

Something in that smile reminded Uriel of God himself – the idea of knowing everything and future being in his palm… No, the angel shrugged the thought off – the Lord was nothing like the Fallen!

"The sinner must be punished. Yet your god could not even come – no, he needed to send you to curse Cain. Either he is not just enough, or not powerful enough. What do you choose?"

Uriel hid behind cold façade, but inside he was shaking. How did that black-winged bastard say that? He mocked the Lord, and yet all his words had already passed through Uriel's own mind. Had Mastema any right?

"You are no saint either – it was your idea to do that to the poor brothers," Uriel responded with an icy voice, so cold that the sun cooled a bit.

"Ad hominem? Do we need to do it like those kids?" Mastema sighed. "Unlike your god, I never pretended to be a saint. But even then, if I exist, he must have foreseen me. Either he doesn't care about the suffering I cause, or is using me for some reason – thus he is my accomplice, either by inaction or by free will. What do you say now?

"I will never betray my Lord." Uriel flew in the sky, running away from Mastema. Had he stayed to listen, he knew he would have agreed with the devil.


End file.
